Water-cooled wall-support for furnaces.



L. S. SCHMIDT.

WATER CQOLED WALL SUPPORT FOR FURNACES. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9, 1915.

. Patented Apr. 15, 1919. FlEl E 5+ E L V F!G.E-

FQEDE.

\JUITNESSEQ LAWENCE S. SCHMITPBT, 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ltSSIG'NUEt Ti] $CHMIDT- EIOCGEMECK GOMEPAITY, 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A COREGRATION Oil? FEMSYLVANIA.

"WATEEt-COULED WALL-SUPPORT FUR FURNACEd.

action 11 on the walls of the furnace.

Consi erable trouble has heretofore been encountered with the walls of an open-hearth furnace, due to the cutting away or undermining of the refractory walls especially adjacent the hearth of the furnace; this results in many instances in a collapse of the walls, causing the refractory mass to be thrown into the bath. An object of the present invention is to rovide an eiiicient fluid cooled support for t e walls for the purpose of preventing this collapse and destruction or said walls. Another object is to provide a cooling structure for the walls and the buckstays employed in connection therewith.

In the present invention 1 dispense with the hollow form of buchstay, and preferably use solid bars for this purpose, and provide a coolin means in such form as to tend to reduce t e bad edects of the high temperature on the stays by not only bringing the cooling means into proximity to the buckstays, but, in addition, making the cooling means efiective to a material extent on the refractory mass in the vicinity of the buckstays.

In addition to producing this result, ll provide an efficient fluid cooled furnace wall supporting structure. This form of cooling structure acts as a support for the refractory walls, and particularly for the front and rear walls of furnaces of this type, which walls are especially liable to be at: tacked in the operation of the furnace, said walls becoming thinned or undercut particularly adjacent the hearth of the furnace. Where the walls are unsupported, this thin ning or cutting action so weakens the wall as to cause a collapse or a partial collapse thereof, the walls moving inwardly, al direction which the usual buclrstay structure can- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application sled November 9, 1315.

Patentedelpr. l5, rare,

Serial No. 60,534.

not resist. By the employment of the combined cooling and supporting structure disclosed herein, the life of the walls as well as the buckstays are materially increased, and collapsing of the walls as described prevented.

To these and other ends, my invention consists in the improved construction and combination of parts hereinafter fully described,

illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims. 7

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary elevation of the exterior of a portion of an open hearth furnace, showing two ways of positioning and securing the supporting and cooling structures embodied in my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 4 are detailed sectional views taken on the lines 3--3 and M respectively of Fig. 1.

10 designates a portion of an 0pen-hearth furnace having buckstays l1 and breast plates 12, the buckstays being preferably in the form of flat bars as shown more particularly in Fig. 2, these bars being positioned as is usual in this class of furnaces. The hearth is indicated at 13, and a wall of the furnace is indicated at 14, this wallbeing formed of refractory material as is usual in such cases. As illustrated, the wall 14 is the front wall of the furnace, the cooling structure to be described, however, being applicable for use for any furnace wall and may be positioned at any desired point of such wall. 15 indicates the skew-back usually employed in these constructions.

The cooling structure per 86 may be of difierent forms, as illustrated, the difierences being mainly in the manner by which it is secured in position external of the wall. Where the structure has a width practically equal to the distance between adjacent buckstays, as shown for instance at the right in Figs. 1 and 2, the structure is externally secured to the buckstays, the structure having vertihally extending portions which are bolted or otherwise secured to the buckstays. Where the structure is spaced from the buckstays, l preferably employ securing plates at the ends of the structure, the lower plate being suitably secured to plates 12, while the upper end is secured to a bracket attached to the channel structure, thus securing the structure in fixed position relative to the refractory mass.

The cooling structures are indicated generally at 16 and 16, the structure 16 having the end flanges 17 while the structure l6 employs side flanges 18. Each structure is of the desired length with its inner and outer walls preferably parallel while the side walls are depressed. as shown more particularly in Fig. 2. This depression may be of any uitable contour in cross section, that shown in the form of the structure 16 being of a shallow V-shape, while that shown in 16 is only partly V-shaped. \Vhether the depression be angular or curved, the effect will be to produce a structure having an inner portion adapted to be embedded in the wall, said portion having the appearance and the function of a keystone or a dovetailing tongue; the outer portion of the form of 16 is complemental to the inner portion although this is not essential as it may be as shown by 16, the characteristic feature being that the inner portion is provided with a contour which, when the structure is placed in position within the furnace wall, will provide a locking engagement with said wall.

By this general cross sectional arrangement of cooling structure I not only provide efiicient interlocking action of structure and wall, but also tend to maintain the integrity of the Wall structure should undermining of the refractory walls reach a point where the cooling structure becomes exposed. When this occurs, the exposed surface is substantially flat, so that the tendency of the gases will be to flow past the outer edges of the metallic face, reducing liability of the mass key being effected by such gases. Obviously. as long as the undermining action is not sufficient to reach the inner face of the structure, the integrity of the key is maintained.

As shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4c, the securing plates 17 and 18 in both instances extend outwardly from the plane of the outer face of the outer portion of the structure. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, that portion of the ends of the structure which extends into the wall is preferably inclined inwardly. although each end may extend in a single plane instead of being varied from such plane by such inward inclination.

Each structure is provided with a water inlet 19 and a water outlet 20. the inlet preferably being continued to a point adjacent the bottom of the interior of the struc ture by a pipe 19, thus causing the cooling fluid to enter adjacent the bottom of the structure and discharge adjacent the top.

As shown in Fig. 2, the combined wall supporting and cooling structure may be employed for the purpose of providing a direct cooling efi'ect on the buckstays by placing it in close proximity thereto and at the same time providing a cooling action on the refractory mass in the immediate vicinity of the buckstays, or the structure may be employed at points intermediate of and spaced from the buckstays, as shown, thus enabling the provision of any desired number of structures at the most efficient points, the requirement for the use of a buckstay in connection therewith not being essential.

The structures may be formed in any suitable manner, preferably being of sheet metal, although they may be of cast metal if found desirable.

As will be understood, the present invention in addition to providing the cooling effects above mentioned, comprises a construction that makes it practically impossible for the refractory wall to fall inwardly in the bath, even though that portion of the wall adjacent the hearth be entirely destroyed.

What I claim is 1. In open hearth furnace structures, the combination with a furnace wall and buckstays external of the wall, of cooling means adapted to form a support for the wall and to prevent an inward collapse thereof after the wall adjacent the hearth has been undercut or partially destroyed, said cooling means including an interlocking portion projecting into the wall from its outer surface and embedded therein, and a portion external of the outer surface of the wall, said external portion of the cooling means positioned between adjacent buckstays and secured thereto externally of the wall.

2. In a regenerative furnace, the combination with a furnace Wall, a breast plate structure, a skew-back structure, and buckstays, of cooling means interlocking with the wall andadapted to form a support for the wall agalnst inward collapsing and having a. length equal to the distance between the breast plate and skew-back structures, said means being positioned between and secured to adjacent buckstays.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LAWRENCE S. SCHMIDT.

Witnesses:

S. A. MCFARLAND, W. G. Doonrrrnn.

tieptea oi this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "eomniiaaiener of Patents. Washington, D. (13. 

